Saturday, 31 May 2014

I am supposed to be working
on my novel, which would take a lot of time, perhaps 10 years to 20 years.
After all, I have a life to live and I don't have much time to do work on it.
But considering the amount of work that has to be done (generating battle data
alongside with the actual wriitng), I fear that by the time I actually released
it, someone else has already do the same and I will ended up getting sued. So,
I decided to upload my files somewhere publicly accessible while I am working
at it. Initially, I'm considering selling my rights with regards of these game
design documents, but considering the hassle that I have to go through and the
impact of that on my own life with unnecessary publicty, I decided to release
them under Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution International as a partially
anonymous identity. After all, I don't have the ability to do lots of things,
so why don't let others who can do what they want? Perhaps one wonders why not
a non-commercial license. That's because I don't think I should prevent others
from making money from their work just because that I can't. With that, here's
the design documents in three parts (the novel will be released under the same license):

Matching is done by swapping spell
box so that three spell blocks of the same element/color form a
horizontal/vertical line. Non-matching swaps are penalized with 6HP reduction
and no force accumulation, which shall be explained in the force section.

When a spell block is swapped
horizontally, the resulting match from it becomes an attack which will be
always directed at the enemy. Conversely, when a spell block is swapped
vertically, the resulting match from it becomes barriers which will be always
directed at the player. Each attack and barrier formed from different elements
has different effects that will trigger, which shall be explained further in match
effect section.

In case of simultaneous matches, the
match from the spell block selected for swapping will become the first and the
next matches shall be alternating between attacks and barriers. If it is
originating from the same block, the blocks parallel to the direction of the
swapping would be the first.

Spell blocks always disappear after
matched and replaced with new ones. How does the spell blocks get replaced will
be detailed in the random number generator behavior section.

After 2 turns have passed, the
active barrier counters would switch sides, as indicated at the axis counter.

b. Elements

The spell blocks in the spell field
can be any of the nineteen elements of nineteen colors:

Color

Element

Star

Fire

Wood

Water

Ice

Wind

Poison

Earth

Sun

Light

Moon

Dark

Sound

Neutral

Steam

Metal

Crystal

Thunder

Cosmo

Dimension

Oracle

c. Match effects

Every element has their own match
effect when attacking. The barriers also have their own effects:

Element

Attack effect

Barrier effect

Fire

Minimum damage is set at 1

Damage -1

Water

Cover 1 block permanently

Restore 1 block to normal

Wind

Ignore all enemy’s barrier effects.
Cannot stop spell effects.

Ignore all enemy’s attack effects
when any of the blocks align with the barrier. Cannot stop spell effects.

Attack direction of spell blocks aligned
with barrier always turns 90 degrees towards the player when any block is
aligned with the barrier. Defense strength is reduced by 1 per block
affected. If barrier strength is insufficient to redirect attacks, blocks
nearest to barrier are affected first.

Thunder

Matching block is duplicated to
the other axis. The duplicated block and the barriers hit by it have no
elemental effects.

Duplicate enemy attack of the
block(s) aligned to the barrier to enemy other territory.

Star

Gain barrier of the enemy’s
element equal to half the difference between player’s attack and enemy’s barrier
strength when the attack does not break the barriers.

Gain barrier of enemy’s element
equal to half the difference between player’s barrier strength and enemy’s
attack when the attack breaks the barriers.

Wood

Attack uses force points to break
enemy’s barrier when attack cannot break it at rate of 1:1, which does not
increase attack power when damage calculation is done. Gain force points when
matched if the effect cannot be triggered.

Defense use force points to
withstand enemy’s attack when defense cannot withstand it at rate of 1:1,
which does not increase barrier strength when damage calculation is done. Damage
gain twice force points if effect cannot be triggered.

Ice

Activates a block adjacent to the
matching block and launch it as an attack with no elemental effects.

Halves enemy attack power by half
(rounded down).

Poison

Attack itself does not cause
damage. When hitting barriers, enemy barriers’ durability are reduced by 1
for 3 turns or until it is destroyed, whichever is earlier. When hitting
empty areas, the enemy’s HP is reduced by 1 for 3 turns.

A random enemy’s barrier has
durability reduced by 1 for 3 turns or until it was destroyed, whichever is
earlier. If there are no barriers, the enemy’s HP is reduced by 1 for 3
turns.

Warped block is swapped randomly,
favoring match forming swaps. Match formed this way is always an attack with
blocks’ values doubled and resets the chain match order.

Oracle

Barrier hit by attack has
remaining barrier strength halved (rounded down) and reversed after the turn
ends. If barrier is destroyed, effect is applied to the next barrier
formation. Effect is cancelled if hitting oracle barriers.

Steals the strongest barrier to defend.
If player’s barrier is stolen, both barriers are destroyed. If enemy’s barrier
is stolen, player’s barrier is destroyed while enemy’s barrier is restored at
full power. If there are no barriers, barrier strength is increased 25%
(rounded down) before being destroyed.

All decimals are rounded down.

Attack effects always trigger first
and defense effect only triggers just before the attacks hit the barriers.
However, wind, earth and metal barrier effects trigger before the attack
effects trigger. Also, attack and defense effects are independent of each other
despite attack effects trigger first, i.e. attack and defense effects are
determined before they trigger.

Covered blocks are marked with blue
background and do not contribute to attack or form barrier pieces. Water blocks
cannot be covered.

Bound blocks are marked with black
background, and unmovable and unmatchable. Dark blocks cannot be bound.

Barriers change their elements when
joined, but attacks on the same direction act independently.

Match effect that involves blocks
affect blocks in the matched blocks path. If the effect cannot be triggered
normally, they will trigger randomly at other areas of the spell field.

Only one block effect can be applied
to one block at any time. If any effect causes multiple block effects appear on
the same block, the effects are reapplied until multiple block effects do not
appear on the same block.

d. Calculations

Attack Damage=Attack-Defense
(minimum 0)

Actual Damage=Attack Damage+Damage
effect Modifiers (minimum 0)

Force Accumulated=Actual Damage

e. Spells

Before spells can be cast, players
must pay 10 force points, which shall be signified by the force gauge turning dark
blue. Then, a match must be done or no spells will be cast. The element of the
match done determines what spell is cast:

Element

Spell

Effect

Fire

Inferno

Deal 7 damage to enemy

Water

Rain

Cover (number of elements)
blocks for the remainder of the battle unless they are matched

Reduce all enemy barrier
strength by half (rounded down) and deal damage equal to half difference
between number of barriers affected (whichever is higher on the same axis) and
number of purple blocks in field

Metal

Rotator

The next 8 turns has the metal
attack effect stack upon all player’s attacks.

Thunder

Thunderstorm

The next 8 turns has the
thunder attack effect stack upon all player’s attacks.

Star

Shine

The next 4 turns have star
match effects stacked upon all player’s attacks and defenses

Wood

Supply

The next 4 turns have wood
match effects stacked upon all player’s attacks and defenses

Ice

Freezing

The next 4 turns have ice
match effects stacked upon all player’s attacks and defenses

Poison

Poisoning

All barriers and the
player’s HP are reduced by 1 for 3 turns.

Sun

Shine

Board reset without force
penalties.

Moon

Blanket

All blocks move right 1
unit and up 1 unit. Matched blocks are unaffected. Blocks warp through
matched blocks and playfield.

Sound

Pulse

Convert 4 enemy filters to
that of player’s. If there are fewer filters, new filters are made.

Steam

Emission

Raise 4 random blocks and
2 random player’s defense areas.

Crystal

Bling

Add 4 mirrors randomly

Cosmo

Phase

Add 4 shifters randomly

Dimension

Wormhole

Forms 4 warped blocks
randomly

Oracle

Yin Yang

The next 4 turns have
oracle match effects stacked upon all player’s attacks and defenses

Once the cost was paid, the player
cannot do the same again for the remainder of battle. All spells are considered
attacks and chain match rules apply as detailed in matching section. Only one
force may be activated at one time and the match effect rules for normal
matches apply as detailed in the match effect section.

Only spell can be cast. When
multiple possible spell effects trigger, the matching block is used to
determine the spell cast.

f. Random number generator behavior

Random numbers are generated without
regards of the board condition. The numbers fill from left to right, followed
with top to bottom. In case of multiple matches, the match done by the matching
block gets priority. Subsequent matches fill normally.

g. Board resets

When there are no match is possible,
all of the blocks in the spell field will be replaced with new ones and both
players’ force gauges are reset to 0.

h. Bonuses for matching more than 3
blocks

Matching more than three blocks of
the same element grant additional value to the block used to form the match by
the number of extra blocks matched. However, covered blocks do not count when
determining the value.

If a simultaneous match occurs, the
blocks are used to form matches gain value equal to (number of simultaneous
matches – 1).

6. Options

The game mechanics are partly
customizable through the below options:

-Attack only: All matches turn into attacks
without regard of any way the match was done

-Adjacent match: Any three or more blocks which
are adjacent to any of themselves counted as a match

-Non-matching spells: Spells can be activated
without needing to match. With this option, players select a spell before match
starts and it become the only spell usable for the players for the remainder of
the battle.

-Chain behavior V2: Matches after the first
retain the same attack/defense property of the first match

-Board pre-match: Allows the spell field at reset
having matches already

-Force matchable blocks: The random number
generator will attempt to form potential matches

-Inward gravity: Instead of the blocks being
replaced, the blocks are pulled towards the barrier field and blocks filling
the blanks.

-Outward gravity: Instead of the blocks being
replaced, the blocks are pulled away from the barrier field and blocks filling
the blanks.

-Fixed gravity: Instead of the blocks being
replaced, the blocks are moving in a fixed random direction determined at the
start of the battle and blocks filling the blanks.

-Extended game: Both players start with 50HP.
Spells are available once between 50 to 26 HP and another between 1 to 25 HP.
If player does not activate force when HP is between 26 to 50 HP, the spell is
considered wasted even when HP is restored back into range.

-Long game: Both players start with 100HP. Spells
can be cast up to 4 times, but a cooldown period of 6 turns is imposed after a
spell was cast before the next one can be cast.

Chain behavior V2 and attack only
options are mutually exclusive. Only one of 90 degree, Parallel siege and
Perpendicular siege option can be active.

7. Alterations for other game modes

a1. 1D modes

The barrier fields at the left and
right sides are enabled while the ones at top and bottom are disabled. As such,
there is no barrier field switch per 2 turns. Rank 8 mode and thunder and metal
elements are unavailable for this game mode.

a2. 2D quad play modes

The field is exactly the same, but
the attack direction changes every turn. After determining who gets to play
first, the second player is the player opposite to the first player, the third
player to the left and the last to the right. When attacking, the player’s
first turn attack is towards the enemy opposite to the player, the second turn
towards the enemy left to the player and the third turn towards the enemy right
to the player. The cycle then repeats for the subsequent turns. Players are not
eliminated when HP turn 0 until only one player has HP remaining.

a3/1. Tag team assault mode

Gameplay is similar to 2d quad play
modes, but players play in a team with combined HP. Team players are aligned 90
degrees with each other and turn order becomes Team 1 player 1, Team 2 player
1, Team 1 player 2 and Team 2 player 2. Team mates do not attack each other and
player’s attack alternates between the two enemies.

a3/2. Tag team defense mode

Gameplay is similar to 2d quad play
modes, but players play in a team with combined HP. Team players are aligned
opposite with each other and turn order becomes Team 1 player 1, Team 2 player
1, Team 1 player 2 and Team 2 player 2.

a3/3. Tag team break mode

Gameplay is similar to tag team
defense mode, but the goal is to reduce own team’s HP to 0 before opponent
does.

b1. Rank modes

Elements are fixed and the board
length is equal to that of number of elements in play. The rank modes are as
follows:

Element

Rank 1

Rank 2

Rank 3

Rank 4

Rank 5

Rank 6

Rank 7

Rank 8

Rank 9

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b2. Standard modes

Elements are chosen randomly before
battle starts and board length is equal to number of elements in play. The
possible number of elements is as follows:

Name

Number of elements

Easy

5

Medium

6

Intermediate

7

Advanced

8

Expert

9

Ultimate

10

b3. Casual modes

Elements are chosen randomly, but
the board length is 1 more than number of elements in play. The possible number
of elements is as follows:

Name

Number of elements

First

4

Learner

5

Novice

6

Amateur

7

Semi-Pro

8

Professional

9

9. Thunder element
behavior in 2D quad play mode

In 2D quad play mode,
thunder element behaves differently than in 2D advanced mode. When the
attacking direction is to the enemy opposite of the player, the duplicate attack
will be directed to either left or right side randomly. The similar applies
with other attack directions.

10. Spells exclusive to
Non-matching spell option

Name

Effect

Free Swap

Allows a block to switch places
with another one. Resulting matches have the matching block values tripled.

Align enemy’s barrier away from
player’s barrier field as much as possible, but the resulting damage is
halved.

Barrier Break

Destroys all enemy’s barriers.

Reinforce

Convert barriers aligned to matched
blocks into attacks.

Roar

All attack blocks have elemental
effects active for 3 times.

Soar

All barriers have elemental
effects active for 3 times.

11. Legal

This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. With that, as long
as attribution is given by linking back to the blog and crediting this document
to Murazrai, there shall be no restrictions of using or adapting this document,
including for commercial purposes.